Very Very Very new, newbie

[Iceash]

Hi All,

I've just started getting into photography. I'm quite keen on low light shots like this:



But oddly, whenever I take a day time shot (landscape) 100% it just doesn't look as sharp as I would hope. Maybe I'm hoping for to much from a Nikon D3200?



When admiring your photos should that be done at 100% or does everyone resize them?

Thanks all,

Ash

[Digital]

Ash, were you using a tripod for the daylight shot? Also what aperture, and shutter speed were you using?
There are a number of reasons a pic maybe unsharp, usually correctable.


Bruce

[Iceash]

Ash, were you using a tripod for the daylight shot? Also what aperture, and shutter speed were you using?
There are a number of reasons a pic maybe unsharp, usually correctable.


Bruce

Hi,

Both tripod, I'm to shaky lol.

The daytime one was ISO 400' 55-200 lens on full zoom. 1/250 shutter speed and f11

[Digital]

Does your camera have a cropped sensor?



Bruce

[Iceash]

Does your camera have a cropped sensor?



Bruce

Very much so, it is a Nikon d3200. 1.5 I believe the crop to be.

[Donald]

1. Are you shooting RAW or JPEG?
2. If RAW, how do you rate your post-processing skills, particularly in sharpening images?

[Iceash]

1. Are you shooting RAW or JPEG?
2. If RAW, how do you rate your post-processing skills, particularly in sharpening images?

I can make my raw pics look better than the stock JPEG the camera produces. Hope that makes sense?

[Donald]

I can make my raw pics look better than the stock JPEG the camera produces. Hope that makes sense?

It makes perfect sense and is the attitude and approach that most people will support (although there are times when shooting JPEG has its advantages). My question about sharpening was because of the fact that all RAW files need sharpened during post-processing and I was wondering if this could have been the problem, or whether you feel you know enough about sharpening to know that this is not the issue.

[Iceash]

It makes perfect sense and is the attitude and approach that most people will support (although there are times when shooting JPEG has its advantages). My question about sharpening was because of the fact that all RAW files need sharpened during post-processing and I was wondering if this could have been the problem, or whether you feel you know enough about sharpening to know that this is not the issue.

I'm sure I'm at a basic level lol. All part of learning, I am looking forward to the challenges ahead. I'll look for some YouTube vids on sharpening raw. See where that takes me

[Digital]

Donald, I am wondering that if Ash was shooting a cropped sensor that the lack of sharpness may due to a to slow shutter speed since if he was shooting a full zoom with a cropped sensor his minimum shutter speed would need to be around 1/300.
Also, after looking at the pic I am not sure that shooting RAW explains the lack of sharpness in this photo.


Bruce

[davidedric]

Hi there Ash

Before you head for YouTube, do read the sharpening tutorials here on CiC. They will give you a very good grounding in what sharpening is all about.

Dave

[Donald]

Donald, I am wondering that if Ash was shooting a cropped sensor that the lack of sharpness may due to a to slow shutter speed since if he was shooting a full zoom with a cropped sensor his minimum shutter speed would need to be around 1/300.
Also, after looking at the pic I am not sure that shooting RAW explains the lack of sharpness in this photo.

I think you are likely to be right, Bruce. Was offering up the sharpening issue as a possible alternative. No harm, of course, in mastering the art of sharpening, but shutter speed may well be the more likely explanation in this case.

[Iceash]

Soz, just looked at the photo details again, shutter speed was 1/500

[Shadowman]

Hi,

Both tripod, I'm to shaky lol.

The daytime one was ISO 400' 55-200 lens on full zoom. 1/250 shutter speed and f11

Regarding the daylight photograph, you don't have to use such a high ISO, but if you do then you can increase your shutter speed to about 1/750-1/1000. With a tripod unsharpness shouldn't be attributed to camera shake unless the tripod wasn't steady, you were on unsteady ground, or you put to much pressure on the setup when pushing the shutter.

[Iceash]

Regarding the daylight photograph, you don't have to use such a high ISO, but if you do then you can increase your shutter speed to about 1/750-1/1000. With a tripod unsharpness shouldn't be attributed to camera shake unless the tripod wasn't steady, you were on unsteady ground, or you put to much pressure on the setup when pushing the shutter.

I have no idea why I used ISO 400 lol. Just wondered if being at full zoom would kill some of the detail?

[Digital]

This pic appears to be due camera movement for some reason. Does your tripod have a center column, and if so was it extended?


Bruce

[Iceash]

it was all the way down. Maybe I should practice with closer landscapes? It was a distance of around 14miles from me to the Cranes.

[Stagecoach]

Ash,

Looking at the landscape image I'll offer the following;

At this small resolution (picture size on the screen) it's a bit difficult to diagnose the problem exactly. The first thing I note is that the house windows and the horizontal overhead wire (left side 3/4 up) look sharp whereas the foreground is not.

The cranes in the background at 14 miles away, taken with a zoom on max and accounting for haze may simply be what you would expect.

My question would be what did you focus on, how far away was it and would f11 give you a DoF that would cause the OOF area in the foreground as would be expected?

Grahame

[Digital]

Ash,

Looking at the landscape image I'll offer the following;

At this small resolution (picture size on the screen) it's a bit difficult to diagnose the problem exactly. The first thing I note is that the house windows and the horizontal overhead wire (left side 3/4 up) look sharp whereas the foreground is not.

The cranes in the background at 14 miles away, taken with a zoom on max and accounting for haze may simply be what you would expect.

My question would be what did you focus on, how far away was it and would f11 give you a DoF that would cause the OOF area in the foreground as would be expected?

Grahame

You maybe onto something Grahame.


Bruce

[Stagecoach]

And here's an example with 'Auto Levels' applied and sharpening at 0.3px 50% and desaturated a wee bit. All very basic stuff.



Grahame